Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have delayed seeking membership to join the Lugano Convention.

The UK applied to join the Lugano Convention in April 2020. This provided ample time for the contracting parties to consider the application so that it could have been brought into force by the end of the Transition Period. Switzerland, Norway and Iceland gave their consent within that timescale. However, the European Union declined to begin to consider the UK’s application until after the end of the Transition Period and has to date not provided a definitive response to our application. The Government maintains that the UK meets the criteria for accession.